


Sk8er Boi

by TeekiJane



Series: The Boys of Summer [28]
Category: Baby-Sitters Club - Ann M. Martin
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2013-12-31
Packaged: 2018-01-06 19:49:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1110834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeekiJane/pseuds/TeekiJane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>P finally hunts Vanessa down—and he’s looking for more than just his skateboard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sk8er Boi

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my sister, who’s still laughing over my “method writing” technique. I’ll never live that down, will I? (Also, happy birthday!)

_Too bad you couldn’t see_  
 _See the man that boy could be_  
 _There is more than meets the eye_  
 _I see the soul that is inside_  
Avril Lavigne, Sk8er Boi

**P**

August 2, 2004, I finally passed my driver’s test. 

My parents had presented me with my very own car as a reward. It had taken a few hours to slip away from the celebration, but I’d had somewhere I needed to go—and someone I needed to talk to. 

I slid behind the wheel of my car for the very first time and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction. It wasn’t just the freedom that now lay in front of me as it does every new driver. I had a specific purpose in mind at that moment, and knowing that I could finally fulfill it was making me extra happy. 

I had looked in the phone book and found the name and address I needed. (Luckily, there’s only one Pike family in Stoneybrook.) Actually, I had had the address on Slate Street tacked up on my wall for nearly two months. I’d meant to go there sooner—or maybe just call—but I knew Vanessa would want to know whether I’d gotten my license. It would have been too embarrassing to tell her I’d made the same stupid mistake for a third time. So I’d vowed to wait until I could indeed show her my new ID. 

Actually, I’d been a little worried that Vanessa had been a lot less interested in me than I was in her. Obviously, I’d piqued her interest that day at the DMV, but I’d kind of hoped she’d wait around to see if I’d made it. I’d planned to give her my number—if not necessarily my name—after the test. But she’d been gone when I’d come back, and I was pretty sure she’d forgotten all about our little encounter, even if I couldn’t. 

But then she and her two friends had stolen my skateboard at the mall the other day. That told me one of two things. Either she was a kleptomaniac and she was really bad at it (unlikely, but funny) or she had wanted me to see her taking my board. That meant she was interested in me enough that she wanted me to come hunt her down. Assuming she wasn’t really a klepto, I’d decided to give her what she wanted. 

No one was home when I arrived at her house, which struck me as kind of weird. I couldn’t remember exactly how many brothers and sisters she had, but I did remember there were quite a few. I’d gone on vacation once with her brother and a mutual friend, and I know her sister also had mutual friends with my sister. I seemed to remember at least one older sister and older brother also. 

I parked out front, wondering if this had been a bad idea. How would I explain myself to her mom or someone if they came home and saw me sitting outside their house? “I’m here to see Vanessa, but don’t tell her I came by, because she doesn’t know who I am”? 

I guess I got lucky. Vanessa came walking across the grass from the next house over—the one on the corner, facing out onto Burnt Hill Rd—just a few minutes later. I jumped out of the car and waited nervously as she came over. She spotted me as I leaned against the trunk of the car, looking in her direction. “Well, well, if it isn’t LP,” she said shaking her head and half-smiling. “I wondered when I’d find you here.” 

Obviously, she’d been looking over my skateboard and found the carving Bill had made. “Well, I had to show you that I eventually did pass my driver’s test,” I said nonchalantly. She was wearing a short black skirt, fishnet stockings and a cropped white shirt under suspenders. Her hair was pulled back on either side with clips that had pink roses on them. She’s clearly gone Lolita since I’d seen her last, but it didn’t make her any less charming in my eyes. 

She stopped a couple yards away, raised her eyebrows and jutted out one hip, putting her hand on it. “Oh? And how many tries did it take you?” she asked. 

“Five,” I admitted. 

Vanessa laughed. “Really? I think you’re just saying that to give you an excuse for not hunting me down earlier.” 

I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and removed the newly minted license. “You can see that I got it earlier today,” I pointed out. 

She came to me and took the proffered card. “Yes, I do see that…” she said with a grin and a gleam in her eye. 

I grinned back at her. “I didn’t just come by to show you that,” I told her as I stuffed my wallet back into my pocket. 

“Of course,” she said. “You need your skateboard back.” 

I sighed. Vanessa didn’t seem to be catching my hints. “Yup. Definitely.” 

“Well, it’s in the garage. Come with me.” 

The garage was behind the house. It was totally devoid of cars, but there was enough detritus in there that I wondered how Vanessa—or anyone else—could ever find anything specific. But she went straight to it. “Here you are,” she said, handing it over. I took it from her and spun one of the wheels, not sure how to proceed. I was afraid that any further hints to the real purpose of my visit would also be spinning my wheels. “Does everyone call you P?” Vanessa asked out of nowhere. 

“What?” 

“The friend you were with last week? He called you P. Does everyone call you that?” 

I nodded. “Just about. Only my parents call me by my first name any more. Even my sisters call me P.” 

She grinned. “I kinda like that. Think I could get everyone to call me V?” I shrugged at her. “Probably doesn’t matter. It’s just that Vanessa is kind of awkward. It doesn’t have any good nicknames.” 

“I like it,” I told her. “It’s a whole hell of a lot better than my first name.” 

She blushed a little bit. “We should probably go back out front,” she commented, ducking her head so I couldn’t see her pink cheeks. “My mom should be home soon, and she’ll have my head if she catches me inside a building with a guy.” 

Before I knew it we were back at the car. I guessed that the real reason she wanted to head outdoors was so that she could usher me away. I screwed up my courage. “You have any plans tonight?” I asked her. 

She snickered. “I told my mom I had to work,” she said, looking around to make sure that no one was listening, “but I really got fired almost two weeks ago.” 

“Fired? For what?” 

Vanessa shook her head in mock disgust. “This one customer made me remake his ice cream five times. Finally, I told him to go to hell.” 

Whoa. What kind of girl was this I’d come across? “That’s almost awesome,” I said. 

“I know, right?” she laughed. “I kinda wish I hadn’t done it though. I was hoping to work through the school year. Earn enough money to blow this town when I graduate.” 

“Well, why don’t you just find another shitty job?” I asked. She grinned at me. “What do you end up doing while you claim to be at work?” 

“A little bit of this and a little bit of that,” she commented idly. “I make some mischief, of course.” 

This was it. It was now or never. “Well, do you want to go out for dinner with me then?” I asked. 

She didn’t even look surprised. “Well, duh,” she said with another grin. She had me flustered. “P, I’ve been hoping you would track me down for seven whole weeks. If I’d known your name, I’d have called you that night and asked you the very same question.” Her cheeks were pink again, but she didn’t look the slightest bit embarrassed. “My friends and I have spent a lot of time trying to find you again. It just took me six fuckin’ weeks to be successful.” 

I laughed in disbelief. “I was going to give you my number that day,” I admitted, “but you were gone when I came back from flunking the test again. I blame that completely on you hypnotizing me, by the way.” 

Vanessa leaned on my car. “My dad came back and I had to go,” she said. “But as for you flunking…you can’t blame that on me, even if I do give off awesomely hypnotic vibes.” 

I opened my back car door and threw my board inside, and then I leaned toward her. “Are you hypnotizing me now?” I asked. 

“I don’t know. You tell me.” 

I leaned in and kissed her briefly. “Yup. I’m definitely under a spell.” 

She rolled her eyes but her whole face was smiling. “Did you want to go now, or say hello to my whole family? Most of them are going to be home in the next twenty minutes or so.” 

I shuddered at the thought of that. “Is it okay if we leave now?” I asked. 

She laughed. “Of course. Let me just go inside to leave a note in case we're not back by the time I'm supposed to be 'off work'. Do you have a cell phone? My mom’s going to want the number…and of course, so do I.” 

I followed her to the back door, but she made me stand in the doorway so that I wasn’t technically inside. Apparently, me just being in the house when her mom came home was cause for a ‘seriously long grounding.’ She wrote the note quickly and left it on the fridge. As she was locking the door behind her, my phone chirped. I looked at the display and turned to Vanessa. “This will just take a second,” I said. She shrugged. “Yo, Bill….No, I’m at Vanessa’s….Yes, I finally got my license….Okay, I’ll ask her….Talk to you later.” 

Vanessa had been listening to every word. “Ask me _what_?” she asked suspiciously. 

“Nothing serious,” I said, feeling a little chagrined. “My friend Bill just developed a crush on your short blonde friend you were with last week. He was hoping we could go on a double date sometime if she’s single.” 

She laughed. “Well, she literally just broke up with my brother two days ago,” she said seriously, “so I doubt she’s up for it yet. Besides, your friend Bill is presuming quite a bit here.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah. He’s assuming you’re going to get a second date and probably more, if he wants us to double ‘sometime.’” She turned to look at me, a smile hiding behind her faux-seriousness. 

I smiled back at her. “Well, I’m kinda hoping for that too. I didn’t leave your name and address on my wall for two months for just a one night stand.” 

She leaned in toward me. “Let’s see how tonight goes, Mr. Papadakis,” she said, and then _she_ kissed me this time. “And then, we’ll talk.”


End file.
